Technology Reseller - v12 2018

01732 759725 DRONES 40 Analysts massively underestimating size of drone opportunity New standards to underpin global expansion of drone industry, claims expert were wrong. And two years ago, top banking firm Goldman Sachs said the world’s drone industry would be worth $100 billion by 2020. They were wrong. It will be much, much more, because such projections are based purely on the air industry. “We must define the entire drone industry as covering surface, underwater, air and space. My company, and the British Standards Institution (BSI), define a drone as any vehicle, ship, aircraft or hybrid system that is remotely or autonomously controlled. This includes autonomous vehicles, pilotless aircraft, satellites, space craft, underwater ROVs, marine surface vehicles and, most excitingly of all, hybrid systems that are increasingly breaking down environmental barriers by operating seamlessly between land, sea and air.” Examples of the latter include ground vehicles that can fly; aircraft that can dive into the sea, inspect underwater installations and become airborne again; and drones that can operate on land, air and sea, like those being developed by US company Marine Advanced Research. Garbett told delegates that the development of new ISO standards for drone safety, security and compliance, due to be released for public consultation later this year, would give added impetus to the industry*. “The new standards will reinforce and deliver the underlying safety and quality Analysts and forecasters are massively underestimating the potential of the drone industry, claims Robert Garbett, Founder and Chief Executive of Drone Major Group, the world’s first trade organisation dedicated to connecting and supporting stakeholders in the drone industry. In a keynote speech at Drone World Congress in Shenzhen, China on June 23, Garbett said that existing forecasts were based purely on air drones, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and ignored the huge potential of marine and terrestrial drones and the impact of new ISO standards on the development of the industry. He said: “Less than a month ago, leading accountancy firm PwC forecast that the drone industry in the UK alone would be worth £42 billion by 2030. But they principles upon which the drone industry can grow and thrive, empowering it to open up new avenues to innovation that we can only begin to imagine,” he said. To enable the industry to achieve its potential, Garbett is calling on governments around the world to recognise the importance of the sector and on people within the drone industry, including resellers, to do more to educate the public on the possibilities and potential of drones. *As well as founding Drone Major Group Ltd, Garbett has been closely involved in the development of drone standards. He is Chairman of the committee responsible for UK Drone Standards at the British Standards Institution (BSI); convener of working groups responsible for the creation of International Standards for air drones at the International Standards Organisation (ISO); and a committee member of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe responsible for all European UAS Standards. Robots take to the streets Starship Technologies has announced the commercial roll-out of autonomous delivery services in the US, UK and Europe, following successful trials with Compass in the US. It expects thousands to be deployed by the end of the year. Initially, it is targeting corporate and academic campuses, giving students and workers the ability to request deliveries of food, stationery and other items anywhere on campus via the Starship app. In trials on Intuit’s 4.3-acre Mountain View campus, it took an average of 17 minutes for a Starship robot to deliver food, coffee or snacks, saving workers the time and inconvenience of having to break from work, walk across campus and stand in queue. The most common Starship delivery item at Intuit has been breakfast sandwiches. “I normally miss breakfast because I’m in a rush on the way to work, but this service has allowed me to have breakfast again, by bringing it to me,” said Ha Ly, Lifecycle Marketing Manager at Intuit. In addition to desk-side deliveries, which help employees be more productive, Starship Technologies claims its robots enable staff to make the most of the recreational amenities found on modern campuses, for example by delivering food and drinks to a basketball court or wildlife garden. To date, Starship robots in 100 cities and 20 countries have covered more than 100,000 miles and encountered 15 million people along the way. https://starshipdeliveries.com Robert Garbett Drones number one investment target Drone technology tops the list of new investment opportunities, according to a survey of 1,200 investors by the UK Business Angels Association, the national trade association for angel and early-stage investment. In a survey of investor sentiment towards new technologies, drone technology was considered ‘important’ by 42% of respondents.